Network-accessible devices come in many shapes and sizes. FIG. 1 shows a system 100 having a number of different exemplary network-accessible devices. The network-accessible devices can include one or more printers 102, one or more plotters 104, one or more scanners 106, one or more work stations 108 and various other devices 110 that are or can be typically connected to a network for use. A server 112 can be provided for controlling access to the network-accessible devices.
FIG. 2 shows a typical model for accessing various network-accessible devices 200. Various client computers 202, 204, and 206 are communicatively linked, typically by a hardwired connection, with the network-accessible devices through server 112. When the client computers desire to interact with a network-accessible device, this is generally no problem as the client computers are aware of, or can become aware of the network addresses associated with each of the network-accessible devices. For example, it is generally not a difficult operation to add a network printer to a list of available printers for selection on a network. Typically, a user simply pulls up a user interface that can provide a list of available network-accessible devices. By simply selecting a device, the user has now enabled their client computer to access and use the network-accessible device.
This operation is made possible by the fact that all of the client computers are connected to the same network, and the network itself (usually the server 112) is aware of all of its resources or devices that are available for selection. By being hardwired into the network, each client computer can thus discover many different available network-accessible devices.
Consider the situation in which a wireless device is now incorporated into the FIG. 1 system. For example, consider a situation in which a user has a personal digital assistant (PDA) or a wirelessly-enabled laptop computer. Typically, such wireless devices are not able to easily access and use network-accessible devices such as the ones discussed above. This is because they typically lack the necessary data associated with the various devices, e.g. the network addresses of the various devices.
As more and more users continue to use wireless devices, the demand for convenient end user applications will no doubt continue to grow. Accordingly, this invention arose out of concerns associated with providing improved methods and systems for accessing network-accessible devices.